Office Supplies
by Beth - Geek Chick
Summary: Off-the-cuff AU story of Annie and Auggie. Enjoy.


**Kind of extreme Alternate Universe story here. Had a flash of inspiration, and here it is.**

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I'd walked around the Office Supply for a good 10 minutes, scoping out every chair on the display floor and, of course, not finding exactly the one I wanted. Like most of my wants, it probably didn't exist – at least in my budget. I saw one or two along the back wall, so I walked past the desks and office setups to see if there were any others.

My Uggs barely made a sound on the tiled floor, but I could swear I heard something – a voice or two. I just figured it was someone behind the "employees only" swinging doors along the wall, or maybe the acoustics made sounds echo. Nevertheless, I walked quickly along the back wall, seeing only boxes of the chairs that were on display. Nothing that I hadn't already seen. I turned the corner and started.

The "voice" became clear as one of the Office Supply associates stood there in his dark blue shirt and khakis. A cellphone was clutched in his hand next to his ear, and he seemed just as surprised to see me as I was to see him. In fact, my hand leapt involuntarily to my chest, and I'm sure a half-gasp emitted from my throat.

The way the office setups were situated, he'd found pretty much the only place in the store where you could hide. Not wanting to look like I was spying on him or gawking, I gave him an apologetic smile for intruding and continued walking.

My little sojourn yielded no other office chairs, so I went back to the aisle where they were all set up. Time to try them out, I thought. The executive ones were out of the question, 'cause they wouldn't even fit in the space of my small apartment. What I needed was one similar to what I had now, but softer on my bottom and more adaptable. My current one had no padding and only moved up and down. I was tired of walking like a question mark at the end of the day.

Halfway through my tryouts, the guy I'd interrupted walked up to me with a somewhat sheepish smile.

"Sorry about that, it's the only place I can have a private conversation," he said.

"That's okay," I replied. "You just startled me is all."

And, seeing him up close now, I can see why my heart jumped a little – and it wasn't from the surprise. I'd never known a salesperson outside of a high-end fashion store be so adorable. Dark hair, a chiseled jaw that made him look a little older than I assumed he was. And – holy mackerel, who made it fair that men should have eyelashes that long? If he were a girl, the cosmetics companies would be lining up to offer him a gig advertising their mascara.

Shit, was I staring? I was staring. Right in his eyes. He probably thought I'm more than a little crazy, so I started talking. Well, babbling a bit, as was my normal habit when I got nervous. "I'm looking to buy a chair for my desk at home. Do you know much about all of these?" I asked, motioning around to the two dozen chairs set out.

"Yeah, a bit," he said with a smile.

Of course he does, I told myself. He works here. "Oh, okay. I was wondering if any of them tilted back and locked? You know, sort of like this," I said, attempting to show him what I meant with my hands.

He went to the nearest one and looked beneath, trying out the handles. I wanted to tell him that I'd already tried that, but who am I to interrupt a professional? Maybe he knew something I didn't. While he and I looked at all the chairs, I continued to talk. "I was hoping they had one like at my old workplace. Well, I still work there, but I work from home now."

"How about this one?" he asked, motioning to one of the "executive" chairs.

"Too big. I'd have to get rid of some furniture to fit that in my office," I said with a laugh. "Looks almost like my recliner."

I went back around the corner to one of the first ones I'd looked at. "I think I'll probably take this one," I said.

"Does it tilt?"

"It can rock back, but not really. The price is what I like most about it, actually," I said. That was half a lie. A hundred bucks for a chair? I spent less on the desk. This better last me a while, I thought.

He came back around to where I stood next to the mesh-backed, leather seat black chair. The back had a comfortable lumbar support that I took as a perk. It'd be a big upgrade from the pillows I'd been using with my old chair to make it comfortable.

"Okay," he said, "I'll just take the tag and bring it up to the checkout."

"I was going to look around, can I –"

"Yeah, sure," he said with a smile. "I'll meet you up by the front later."

I took my time looking around, as I'd only been in this store once before and wanted to see what else they had. I picked up a dry erase board and some notepads. I'd fitted out my home office pretty well so far and was making sure I wouldn't be caught in the middle of the day running out of something. Working from home had its perks, but working in an office ensured there'd always be printer ink or a red ink pen if you needed one.

I was halfway through my browsing when I heard a voice say, "There you are."

My head turned to see the cute sales associate walking down the aisle towards me. "Hi."

"Hey," he said, holding up a small box with a picture of the chair I just chose on it. "I forgot to ask if you wanted the warranty that comes with this," he said.

Normally I didn't bother with warranties, as their cost sometimes negated any savings I'd made on the product I just bought. But this guy – August, his nametag said – was standing pretty close to me, and at that moment, I really didn't want him to leave.

"Okay," I said a bit hesitantly.

He began giving the spiel of what all comes with the warranty, and I have to say, it sounded pretty good. Three years coverage if something broke on it. An associate that came to your house to fix the chair for free, or a gift card of equal value. I wondered if he did such "home visits." Then he opened the box and showed me the leather cleaner and cloth. I didn't even get that with my brand new car.

"Plus," he said, "I can put it together for you here."

I glanced to his doe-brown eyes and saw something more than a sales pitch there. A kind of hope, maybe, longing? "Well," I said, "I'm more than capable of doing it myself at home, but why not? If you're not too busy?"

He smiled then, and damn if my heart didn't stop, reverse for a second and thump a bit harder than normal. "No, not at all. It'll be about 15 or 20 minutes, though, if you don't mind waiting?"

For a second, all the other errands I needed to do this Saturday morning popped into my head, but Auggie's deep brown eyes looked into mine with a soft pleading. Usually I was immune to sales pitches, but something deep inside me told me to listen to this one. 15 or 20 minutes was nothing, right?

I found myself nodding and agreeing, saying I'd look around some more while he got to work. He took off with a smile, and I took a much-needed deep breath. Damn. Since when did I go all googly-eyed like a 15-year-old when a good-looking guy smiled at me? Since now, apparently, I told myself.

There was only a few more aisles left to browse, and after I did so, I took the few items I'd found over to him. He was behind some type of large work desk, and I placed my items on it, too. He looked up and smiled. "Only a few more minutes."

"Take your time," I said, leaning against the counter. I watched as his large, strong hands manipulated the Allen wrench. The short sleeves of his work shirt showed the muscles bunching in his forearms. The uniform he wore really didn't fit well, and I found myself wondering just how well his other muscles were defined under the blue and khaki.

I didn't realize how hard I'd been staring until he moved away, and I blinked up to find him smirking at me. Yep, I was staring. Trying to get back just a little bit of my dignity and pride, I slid my smartphone out of my purse and took a couple of steps back. Definitely a Twitter moment.

Hot as hell guy in office supply. #sexy

I smiled at my little note and read down through my timeline for a few minutes, glancing up through my eyelashes to watch him put the final touches on my new office chair. I wondered how many other women hit on him at this store, and if he got a lot of sales that way.

"There you go," he said, setting the finished product on the floor. My mouth dropped open as he plopped into it and gave it a spin. "Works perfectly."

"Hey, I wanted the first ride," I said with a laugh.

He rolled the chair over to the nearest cash register and motioned for me to bring my other items over. A slight disappointment came over me as I realized our little flirtfest was coming to an end, but what else was there to do? It's not like we were in a bar, and I could buy him a drink.

He bagged up my other items and gave me a total. I handed over my credit card. Instead of just scanning it and handing it back, I noticed he looked close at the front of it. I wasn't sure what was so special about a Capitol One MasterCard that required a perusal, but a few seconds later, I got my answer.

"Here you go, Anne," he said, handing it back to me. The card lay in his palm instead of outstretched fingers, and as my fingers grazed his palm while retrieving it, our eyes met again.

"It's Annie," I corrected, returning his smile.

"Annie," he said, and yeah, I had a bit of a thrill go through me at my voice coming through his lips. "Want me to carry it out to you car?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be all right," I said. "I can just roll it out there."

He came around the cash register and put his hands on the chair. "But the wheels will get all dirty from the parking lot," he pointed out.

Before I could say anything else, he had hefted the chair in his arms and turned around. I hastily grabbed my bag of other items and followed him out. Well, if anything, letting him carry my chair offered a great view of his shoulders and back as they flexed with the weight.

As we got out into the warmth of the sun, I came up alongside him. "It's the silver SUV over there," I said, fishing my keys out of my purse. A couple pushes to the button, and I heard the rear door unlock. I pulled it open. "If there's not enough room, the back seats can fold up," I said.

Which looked like a possibility, as he tried to place the chair in straight up. Nope, too tall. Sideways? The wheels hung over the bumper. He grunted and frowned as he kept maneuvering the chair to get it in perfectly. And then, after a minute, he stood up straight, a wide smile lighting his face.

"Got it," he said.

The look of satisfaction on his face made me smile, as well, and I gently shut the door, noting that he did, in fact, make it fit perfectly. "Good job. Thanks."

"You're welcome," he said. "I may be overstepping my bounds here, but would you – I mean –"

I took a step closer, wondering if what I was hearing and seeing was really true. "Would I what?" I asked gently.

"Can I have your number?"

Wow, oh, wow. My mind went numb for half a second. Did he – I thought I was the only one doing the flirting here and ogling. "Yes."

He smiled again, and his eyes lit up. "So, what is it?"

I blinked through my startled reaction and pulled my phone out of my purse. "Here, put your number in my contacts, and I can send you a text," I said, handing it to him.

He did so, and then handed it back to me. The screen showed a text just sent, and I laughed when I saw he wrote to himself, "Call me. Annie."

"Thanks, August," I said.

"Auggie," he replied, starting to walk away. "Call me Auggie."

"I will," I said, sliding into the drvier's seat while watching him trot back into the store. The heat of the interior of the car made my skin flush even further, and I saw in the reflection of the rearview mirror the happy smile on my face.

**Please review.**


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